The Bike

I thought we could get away with not getting him a two-wheeler until next summer, when all our moving around is done; but it was just too pitiful watching him bike on his tricycle with his knees up so high in the air! We found this sweet ride on Craigslist for $25. 14" wheels, heavy duty steel frame, and a hand brake. He couldn't be happier (or feel cooler)!

Mom's Vacation!

I went to San Diego for five days to have my very first girls trip since being married! My girl friends from college years all moved so far apart (and didn't have much money), that we didn't really have the opportunity to get together... until now! We flocked to Cynthia in San Diego from Atlanta, Boston, & Spokane (almost literally the four corners of the country!). Cynthia let us stay at her home, and was a very generous & wonderful hostess! We went to Magic Mountain, did a harbor cruise, went dancing down town, spent time on the beach, had our nails and facial treatments done, and had lots of fun eating out (a LOT)!

San Diego sure is beautiful, but I was shocked to realize that it's no longer my favorite city. Maybe because this trip I saw it through 'mom eyes': everything was way too expensive ($11.50 for a matinee movie, 8.5% sales tax on retail, etc.!), and it's more brown than I remember (I'm spoiled now from the lush deep green and infinite flowering trees/bushes that fill every space of Georgia). It turns out I don't love the beach as much as I thought; it's not worth that much to me. Atlanta is my new top city, where I want to stay and raise kids! I was happy to fly home! :)

Disney World!

We just had a GREAT weekend in Orlando with our (way cooler than us) friends, the Smiths! They were kind enough to invite us down with them, which worked out great because then Sawyer had a buddy to keep him going all day. We only planned on spending one day at the Magic Kingdom, so we went from open to close (and we can't believe the kids made it, with no naps)!

Dumbo, Tea Cups, Carousel, and Hunter screaming (in excitement- even though he looks angry)...

Mickey and Minnie! Sawyer has already asked to have this framed and put in his bedroom!

Sword in the Stone attempt (not successful; sorry, buddy), It's a Small World ride, and climbing the beanstalk:

Boating through the jungle (a favorite; especially the elephants):

Cooling off at the splash pad, hanging out with his buddy Sierra (in many ways):

The castle, day into night:

We stayed for about 10 minutes of the 9:00 show/fireworks, and then took off to make sure we'd catch our shuttle back to the resort (so we could get those kiddos to bed)! It was such a wonderful day, and I can't believe how smoothly it went with three toddlers! We have a ton of fantastic memories now, and loved hanging out with the Smiths! Thanks, guys!

Swim Day

Saturday we spent the day back at the Hyatt resort enjoying their pools & recouperating from the long exhausting day at Disney. The 1/2 acre of pools, hot tubs, waterfalls & slides were really spectacular; particularly the amazing cavern formations to swim through (Sawyer loved paddling through these)!

Sawyer even did a canonball contest! He was so proud (and so were we).

Rainy Ball & Berries!

Monday night Sawyer had a game scheduled at 6pm. It started drizzing around 4pm, but it wasn't really suppsed to rain hard, so we figured the game was still on (and we never received the notice of it being cancelled, like we have in the past). We showed up, and so did about 4 other kids & the coach: telling everyone the game was cancelled. There were some seriously disappointed kids, so coach Tammy took them out to play around on the field anyway! It was very cute, and Hunter loved an excuse to splash around in puddles.

I also just noticed on Saturday that we have strawberries showing up in our topsy turvey already! They're small, but I'm not sure what to expect, never having grown any berries before. I'm sure they don't get as much sun as they're supposed to, but I've got them placed the best I can out on the deck. We unfortunately face north, though, and have a big overhang. Oh well. We'll just see what happens!

Momma's Day!

I have wonderful boys! Here are my sweet flowers Sawyer insisted on getting for me.

My boys were so good to me for Mother's Day this year! They prepared breakfast, Joe watched Hunter for most of church, Joe prepared lunch AND a chocolate cake, and we went for a walk on a new trail along the Chatahoochee (the weather was incredible)! I'm so happy to be a mom & LOVE my BOYS! Thank you, guys, I feel very loved!

Circus Fun!

We had a fantastic time going to the circus on Saturday! I can't believe we haven't gotten Sawyer to one before. He (and Hunter) were both entirely captivated. My camera ended up having a low battery, so I only snapped a few pics of our day before it died; but here's what I got:

It was also an entire carnival. His first ride: the helicopter! He also rode his first little roller coaster, a ferris wheel, and the big swinging boat (is there a real name for those? They're at the very top, Joe with his arm around Sawyer). Only the boat freaked him out a bit (but it was Joe's favorite), but he LOVED all the other rides. It was a great evening to watch him be SO excited!

ChattaHOOchee!

We live right down the road from the Chattahoochie River, which is a nice feature. Unfortunately there's a $3 parking fee every time we want to go, which would really add up... unless we walk/run there. It's a 1.25 mile walk from our door, plus a monstrous hill; and since I don't have a double stroller, we don't get down there as much as I'd initially imagined. Actually... even if we had a double stroller, I don't think I'd walk 1.25 miles to get to the start of my walk with two kids.

ANYWAY, this week National Parks were all free admission, so we could go without paying for parking & enjoy the ChattaHOOchee (Sawyer's preferred pronounciation):

Hunter was totally content hanging upside down to touch the water. No complaints. It was pretty funny. :)

April Split

Since Easter, April has been an odd split of eventful, yet boring. For example: Joe's had two different business trips in interesting places, yet I've been home alone with the boys (eventful yet boring). Example two: I sprained my ankle and was out of commission for about 8 days (eventful yet boring). Example three: Our car broke down and stranded Joe, making us miss Sawyer's t-ball game & live without a car for two and a half days... it's not fun begging for rides (eventful yet boring).

Some fun, though: we bought two Topsy Turvys, one for tomatoes and one for everbearing strawberries. I know it blends into the woods behind, but there's our tomato plant! Everyone has said that they work, so I hope we have success for Sawyer's sake (I'd LOVE for him to experience eating food we grow)!

This is just Hunter being happy. He's sure turning into a fun little guy!

OH, and I got the shortest haircut of my life. I'm still getting used to the feel of it, but generally like it a lot!

Our Easter Fun!

Thursday morning we had a fun Easter egg hunt with all of our church play group friends. It was a beautiful morning, and the first egg hunt of Sawyer's life without snow on the ground; yay for the south!

Friday afternoon we dyed a few Easter eggs, just to give Sawyer his first taste of it. We only had two eggs out of ten crack, and neither were because of Sawyer (or Hunter)...

As a still relatively young family, we're always brainstorming what holiday traditions we'd like to form. This year we decided that we want to keep all the springtime/eggs/bunnies/chicks type 'Easter' on Saturday (or earlier days), and try to reserve the spiritual/family for Sunday. We liked the way that felt this year, so I think that's a keeper!

Sunday was wonderful, but I didn't get a single picture! We watched general conference online from home, and had a simple traditional Easter meal with some of our favorite friends in the afternoon. We're so grateful for this holiday and for the friends who shared it with us!